Frank Yallop

Ipswich Town (1983–1996)

In 1983, aged 19, Yallop signed a professional contract with Ipswich Town. He would make his debut the following year, in a 1-0 defeat away to Everton. He was part of the Ipswich squad that was relegated from the First Division in 1986 and of the squad that won the 1991–92 Second Division title promotion six years later to the inaugural season of the newly formed FA Premier League, where Ipswich stayed for three years before being relegated once again to the second tier. Yallop was named the club's Player of the Year in 1987–88. In August 1992, Ipswich held a testimonial match against West Ham United in honour of Yallop. In the later years of his Ipswich career, he played alongside fellow Canadian Craig Forrest. In the season following the relegation, Yallop was loaned out to third-tier side Blackpool F.C. in November 1995, where he featured for the team in a few Second Division matches. He departed the club following the conclusion of the 1995–96 season. Two of his eight goals for the Town came in the span of three days in February 1993. The first came against Tottenham Hotspur with Yallop breaking a four-year scoring drought in a 2–0 victory. The second goal helped to push Ipswich to beat Premier League title favourites Manchester United 2–1 at Portman Road, a result which saw Ipswich occupy fourth place in the league and spark hopes of a late run to the title, but instead a slump in form followed and Ipswich finished 16th. At the end of…

Yallop made five appearances for England's youth team in 1981–82 before switching allegiance to Canada. He had initially been ineligible to feature for Canada and thus missed out on their first World Cup participation in 1986. After FIFA's rules changed regarding national team player eligibility, Yallop was finally able to make his official debut and start for Canada at 26 years of age on 13 May 1990, against Mexico in the 1990 North American Championship, helping Canada win the tournament. Yallop had featured in Canada's first match of the tournament against the United States, however since the US sent a B-squad to the match, it did not count as a full international. Over his Canada career he earned 52 caps, serving as captain multiple times, and scoring no goals at the international level. He represented Canada in 27 FIFA World Cup qualification matches across the 1994 and 1998 World Cup qualifying campaigns. His final international was on 16 November 1997 away to Costa Rica in Canada's final 1998 World Cup qualification match. On 29 April 2005, Yallop was selected for induction into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame for his playing career. On 24 May 2012, Yallop was selected by the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame as the right back of Canada's Best XI for the 1963–2012 era.

Early coaching career

After retiring following his 1998 season with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, Yallop was offered the opportunity to become an assistant coach for the club starting with the 1999 MLS season. In the interim period before the pre-season would begin, Yallop began his coaching career in 1998 as an assistant-coach under Lothar Osiander with the U.S. Project-40 team, joining the team on a 5-game tour of England. Osiander joked that he brought Yallop on board because "I needed someone who knew how to drive on the other side of the road." Following the tour, he began his duties as an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Mutiny. In 2000, he became chief assistant coach for D.C. United under Thomas Rongen. In December 2000, it had been reported that Yallop was considered as an early candidate to coach for his former team Tampa Bay Mutiny, but he did not make the final group of candidates.

San Jose Earthquakes (2001–2003)

In 2001, Yallop was named head coach for the San Jose Earthquakes, just three days before the MLS SuperDraft. He replaced Lothar Osiander, who he had briefly coached under just few years prior with Project-40. Yallop was the first former MLS player to become an MLS head coach after retiring. During the pre-season, Yallop acquired Jeff Agoos, Landon Donovan, Dwayne DeRosario, Manny Lagos, Ramiro Corrales and Ronnie Ekelund, as well as assistant coach Dominic Kinnear. Kinnear, a former teammate of Yallop's at Tampa Bay Mutiny, initially thought…

Yallop was born in Watford and spent his early childhood there before his father, a meat cutter by trade, joined a brother in Canada in 1974 bringing his wife and three children to Vancouver. Yallop continued playing in British Columbia, where he caught the eye of an Ipswich Town scout who invited Yallop to try out for Ipswich aged 14.